Outstanding

Above Average

Average

Below Average

Poor

Author William Leisner concludes this year's TOS/5YM marathon with his second Star Trek novel, The Shocks of Adversity. He's no stranger to the TOS characters however, most recently having taken them on an adventure in Ambition, his entry in the Constellations short story collection to commemorate the franchise's 40th anniversary. In the meantime, this novel's release date on May 28th falls neatly into the month of his 14th anniversary as a published Trek scribe. Congrats!

This one's got an unusually long official blurb:

Located far beyond the boundaries of explored space, the Goeg Domain is a political union of dozens of planets and races. When the U.S.S. Enterprise arrives in its territory to investigate an interstellar phenomenon, Commander Laspas of the Domain Defense Corps is at first guarded, then fascinated to discover the existence of an alliance of worlds much like his own, and finds a kindred spirit in Captain James T. Kirk. And when the Enterprise is attacked by the Domain’s enemies, crippling the starship’s warp capability and leaving its crew facing the prospect of a slow, months-long journey home, the Goeg leader volunteers the help of his own ship, offering to combine the resources of both vessels to bring the Enterprise to a nearby Domain facility to make the necessary repairs.

But what at first seems to be an act of peace and friendship soon turns out to be a devil’s bargain, as Kirk and the Enterprise crew learn that there are perhaps more differences than similarities between the Federation and the Domain. When the Goeg’s adversaries strike again, the Enterprise is drawn deeper and inexorably into the conflict, and Kirk begins to realize that they may have allied themselves with the wrong side....

This dropped into my Kindle yesterday, and I read it on a long road-trip. A fascinating read - I love some of the nods to future continuity (Dom Jot and so on), especially as this helps us to see that the future is bright for the species in the vicinity of the Domain, whilst leaving open the fate of the actual organisation.

I definitely saw parallels (which may or may not have been intended) with some real-world global situations - if they were intended, Mr. Leisner, message wholeheartedly agreed with.

I am close to half done and am really enjoying this. Some very nice world building to make the alien organization feel distinctive and not like a Federation clone.

At this point my only real complaint is an ongoing complaint about pretty much all of this years TOS novels. The constant references to episodes etc, start to feel overdone and kind of forced. But that's a minor nit to pick really.

I enjoyed it immensely. The concept is virtually identical to one I had years ago. Good to see it done by a pro. (For the record, I never communicated the idea to anybody, so there isn't the slightest implication of anything in anything I'm saying.)

I agree with pretty much everything Odd Sigma said. I voted Outstanding. It was a nicely paced adventure. The characters and situations were believable. Overall, one of the best ST novels I've read in a long time, bar Cold Equations.

This is cool to hear. I loved - LOVED - Losing The Peace and was hoping that Leisner would become a regular, it's awesome that he got this one and that it's up to the same standards. I haven't read any of the TOS this year but I'll probably check this one out.

Yes that scene with the grappler was really neat to see in this book.I'm halfway through this novel.William Leisner wrote some really great character scenes for Kirk, Spock ,McCoyand the other TOS crewmembers and the Goeg crewmembers and the differences in command and military discipline.I like the alien doctor and engineer from the Goeg ship they're great characters.This book certainly feels like it couldsv've been from a tv episode. This book is just as good as losing the peace. I'd like to see this author write another Startrek novel. This book is certainly full of suprises you don't expect.

"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."

In other words, anything could have happened to it. It could be part of the Federation, but then again, maybe not. If it still exists in its current form, I wonder if there is "Federation space" on all sides of it now, or if it's in an area that's kind of left alone in the 24th century... Even at only 100 light-years away, the vastness of interstellar space may mean that it's relatively left alone.